Friday, November 28, 2008

A Gobble, Gobble...no, Cluck, Cluckin Thanksgiving!

This year's Thanksgiving was a gobble, gobble (well...cluck, cluckin) good time!(hilarious story explained below) We got together with some other American friends and ate lots of food, played games and enjoyed one another's company! They really have become our "family" here and we are so thankful to share the holidays with those we love.

Pin the Hat on the Turkey game:


April's first Thanksgiving away from home...we love you, April!


Me and Matt trying to take a picture of ourselves...didn't work out too well :)
Full bellies and fun friends:

The gobble/cluck story... This is an email we received from our friend who was hosting our Thanksgiving celebration and who was also in charge of purchasing the turkey:

Dear Pilgrims and Indians,

That old Thanksgiving song asks of Timothy Turkey, “Why do you cry, Why do you cry, Why do you cry?” In the original our friend Timothy was crying great big turkey tears because he knew he was about to lose his head and feathers and end up on a silver platter on the classic, American table. Well, we at our house have felt the pain of ol’ Timmy Turkey, but for different reasons. We have cried because we have not been able to find a turkey. Well, let us rephrase. The first turkey we found was a frozen one (which is what we were looking for), but the wrapping had been opened and it looked as if the bird had been handled. We then found a turkey that we thought had been frozen at one time…although we are not sure when that time was. When we picked it up at the store it was very cold and we only carried it by the handle on the bag so we didn’t realize that it wasn’t really frozen until we got it home. After doing extensive research online (many thanks to “WikiAnswers”) we learned that a whole turkey can be left thawed in the refrigerator for only 1-2 days. So we thought we would investigate the questionable bird. As we opened the bag in our kitchen both of our heads snapped back at the smell of spoiled meat. Needless to say we aren’t cooking this one…although we are still debating as to whether this discovery would stop some of our friends from eating multiple portions anyway (Matt, don’t ask who I am talking about.). In conclusion, after six hours of searching our favorite stores from Heliopolis to Maadi, we found 3 turkeys; one frozen, naked, and handled, one rotten, and one as yet to be identified. We have decided to leave #3 a mystery. As it stands right now it looks as if Bahy BBQ will be providing our Thanksgiving meat. We think about 6 chickens will feed everyone. We are sorry if this ruins anyone’s holiday cheer. My thought was that I would now have more room for pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato casserole, dressing, beans, bread, and yes…street chicken. I guess we can rearrange everyone’s favorite holiday song…Charlie Chicken why do you cry? Or better yet…Fady Friek bitayut leih? We can’t wait to share our holiday together.


Turkey Bowl '08

We missed last year's Turkey Bowl at Meredith and Madison's school because we were in the states with Matt's head incident. But we didn't miss it this year! The parents and teachers played against the students.



Matt played well but now his body is mad at him for playing so hard! :)



Stacey and Meredith loved their "full back position" because they didn't have to move very much! The only time Stacey moved was when the ball came right at her, followed by a scream! Matt played well but now his body is mad at him for playing so hard! :)


Madison cheered on the sidelines (well, kind of)...but she was cute anyway! All in all...it was a great time!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Confession...We Have a Drinking Problem at our House!

We have literally POURED (no pun intended) tons of money into buying juice boxes over the last 2 years! This is partly due to a 5 and 6 year old who can't seem to get enough apple juice! So, about a week ago we sat down with all three children and discussed the "new rule" on drinking juice....They each are allowed to have one juice box a day and then a small cup either for breakfast or for supper. The rest of the time they can drink water. As soon as we finished giving the rule Meredith said, "It is not me that has the juice problem. THEY have the juice drinking problem!!!":)
A few days later we had some things delivered from our little shop. When the man came and told us the total, I just knew that couldn't be right. We went ahead and paid him but I was determined to do some research the next day. My suspicion was right...that shop had been charging us 3 times the price for our large juices and twice the price for our small juice boxes!!! Of course, I went to them and got my money back from the previous day's order(don't worry...I kept my cool) but who knows how much they really owe me from the last two years!!! So, I guess the "pouring of the money" is not all Madison and Matthew Ray's fault afterall! But Meredith says they still have a drinking problem!
He looks pretty tipsy, doesn't he! :)

Monday, November 17, 2008

We went to a farm....well, kind of...

Some friends of ours gave Madison and Matthew Ray a trip to a place called Fagnoon this past weekend. Fagnoon really means "crazy art." It was "out in the country" and very farm like in appearance. We ALL had a great time making pottery, painting, woodworking, climbing trees and ropes, riding camels and just plain running around outside in the open space! I couldn't decide on just a few pictures to post so I posted a lot!!:)















Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Senna Helwa Ya Gameela! (Have a Beautiful Year, Beautiful!)

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY AMBER!!! We wish we could be with you on your birthday! (maybe one day we can celebrate our birthdays together!:) I remember the day you were born...you looked like a little Indian baby! So, so sweet! You are growing up so fast and so beautiful! WE LOVE YOU!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

A Combination of Birthday's and Halloween



It's birthday time at our house! Madison turned 6, Matthew Ray turned 5 and I (Stacey) turned hmmmmm...I can't seem to remember. You know a woman is old when she is not willing to post her age on her blog!!
For the big celebration, we had a great birthday party with some of our dearest friends here. Since our bdays start right after halloween, we decided to have a costume/trick-or-treating birthday party! All of the kids came dressed so cute and they loved trick-or-treating "door to door" in our hallway!(that's becoming a yearly tradition in our neck of the woods).